Estonia ‘imagined’ Russian incursion into its airspace – Moscow
Russian fighter jets have never crossed into Estonian airspace, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, has told an emergency UN Security Council meeting called upon Tallinn’s request. The Baltic nation and NATO member previously claimed that three military aircraft violated its airspace for 12 minutes in what it called an “unprecedented brazen” incursion.
“Our neighbors have now imagined that Russia is at fault for an incursion into Estonian airspace,” Polyansky said on Monday, referring to last week’s incident. “There is no proof except the Russophobic hysteria coming from Tallinn.”
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, who represented his nation at the meeting, maintained that Tallinn possesses “hard evidence” of the alleged violation while demonstrating what he stated was radar data showing the flight trajectory of the Russian jets.
According to Polyansky, the Russian jets conducted a planned flight and “did not stray from the agreed route, nor did they cross into Estonian airspace” as they flew over “the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, over three kilometers from the island of Vaindloo.”
Estonia could have established these facts on its own but doing so was not on Tallinn’s agenda, the Russian diplomat said. “Its goal is different: to stir up hysteria and accuse Russia of provocations despite any facts and common sense,” he added.
The Russian Defense Ministry had also earlier denied the accusation, saying that its jets flew over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea “without violating Estonian airspace.”
Tallinn requested urgent consultations with fellow NATO members under Article 4 of the bloc’s treaty in the wake of the incident, prompting several other members of the bloc to point fingers at Russia as well.
The alleged incident took place just weeks after Poland accused Russia of sending at least 19 drones into its airspace, a claim Moscow denied. The bloc responded by increasing air patrols over the Eastern European nation.
